HONOLULU (KHON2) — An area once a haven for criminal activity is being transformed in Wahiawa. The land, just off Kamehameha Highway near Whitmore Village, was overgrown for years.
It was a hub for crime–several acres of it was an illegal chop shop littered with hundreds of abandoned cars. There were brush fires and squatters living there.
Longtime GOP lawmaker Gene Ward dead at 82, leaving legacy of principle and political resilience
The last straw came in 2020 after 30-year-old Malia Soma-Valmoja was shot and killed there.
Shortly after her murder, dozens of law enforcement officials swept the area, and the state’s Agribusiness Development Corp., tasked with managing the land, ramped up efforts to regain control of it…